


I Still Love You

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [93]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ace character, Coming Out, Gay Character, LGBTQ Themes, Militray, Shiro is a good dad, coming home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 08:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9648800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: Keith has something to tell his dad, and Shiro's answer might just surprise his son.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Is Keith lgbt+ in the dad Shiro au? If so you should write him realizing it and coming out"

  “Keith! You’re home already?” Keith couldn’t stop the smile from blooming on his face as his dad opened the front door to Keith’s old home. He found himself pulled into a tight hug before he could even set his bag down and Keith laughed. He buried his nose into his father’s neck, relishing in the old memories of when his dad had once used to hold him to calm him down. It felt like ages ago when Keith felt this safe.

              It felt like ages since he had last seen his dad.

              To be fair, it had been over 9 months, and that was a long time for the duo. Eventually, Shiro let go of his son and Keith pulled back but kept a firm grip on Shiro’s shoulders. From the corner of his eyes, Keith saw Red haggardly making her way to her old master. At a rip age of 15, Keith knew that Red didn’t have many years left in her and he was thankful for every chance he got with her.

              The twenty-year-old Airforce pilot knelt down beside Red and gave her the scratches that she always loved and she licked his face exactly as he always loved. Shiro fondly watched his – _now grown-_ son pet their dog as if he were a kid again. Finally, Keith stood up and brushed off his uniform.

              “I’ll be in town for a couple of days before they send us off to base along the coast. I thought I’d drop by and say hello.” Keith grinned at his dad, when Shiro already made to take the bag out of Keith’s hands. He sighed but didn’t protest knowing his father was too proud and too polite to let Keith carry his own bag.

              “You mean, you figured you’d mooch off your old bedroom until you were off to base.” Shiro snorted fondly while Keith laughed. He entered his own home, breathing in the familiar and sweet scents of home. He’d never regret his decision to enlist as his father had once did, but that didn’t mean that Keith never missed his home.

              “Whatever old man.” Keith rolled his eyes already moving to the old kitchen and pouring himself a glass of orange juice. Shiro faked a mock gasp as he disappeared down the hallway to put Keith’s things away. When he returned he saw Keith drinking a glass of juice, sitting on a bar stool and swinging his feet like he did when he had been a little kid.

              Shiro was proud of the man that Keith had become. But he would always miss his little baby.

              “So, how was your last tour?” Shiro asked when he had finally made his own tea and sat down beside Keith. Red heaved herself down on the ground beside her old master and began to sleep peacefully while Keith smiled.

              “Pretty boring. Standard flight patterns but no active duty yet.” Keith shrugged. “I mean, I’m kinda glad that we’re not _at war_ , but I love flying dad.” Keith smiled and Shiro watched as a familiar light took over Keith’s eyes. His blue eyes always took on a bright light inside of him, whenever he talked about something that he was passionate about.

              “Yeah?” Shiro had been a pilot too for some time during his tours in the military, but he’d spent a majority of time as a foot soldier in active combat. He was thankful that Keith sent more time in his plane than he died shooting a gun.

              “Yeah. It’s just so…surreal. I always think that I’ll get used to being up in the air, in our jets, so high until you can hardly see the houses on the ground below us. But every time I’m in the air…”

              “It’s a whole new experience.” Shiro finished for his son, who nodded in appreciation. Keith was glad his dad understood him, when most other people didn’t. Eventually, their conversation died off and the two sat in a comfortable silence before Keith ran his fingers over the rim of his empty glass. Shiro watched as his legs swung a bit faster than before – a sign that Keith was nervous and that something was on his mind.

              Keith had something that he needed to talk about and Shiro felt his heart drop.

              _It must be serious._

              “Dad, um, there’s something I need to tell you.” Keith said softly, still running his fingers along the rim of his glass. Shiro swallowed a heavy lump in his throat, suddenly afraid that Keith was going to announce his active duty service. _What if Keith was going into combat now?_

              “Sure. You can tell me anything.” Shiro was amazed that his voice had managed to sound straight and didn’t break even once, despite his inner turmoil. His hands barely shook at his sides when Keith took the time to pause before speaking.

              “It’s – it might be difficult to talk about.” Keith finally said and Shiro felt his breath hitch. _He will be fine. Keith will be fine._

              “Oh?”

              “Um, I’m not sure where to begin.” Keith sighed shakily and he took his hat off his head. Shiro blinked and swallowed back his fear. _Right now, was not the time for his fears. Right now, Keith needed him._ Gently, Shiro wrapped an arm around Keith’s shoulder and squeezed tightly.

              “Take your time Keith. There’s no rush and you can tell me when you’re ready. I will _always_ love you.” Shiro said softly, watching as Keith’s eyes melted from fear and nervousness to a warm relief and his fidgeting became more manageable.

              “Dad,” _I’m being sent overseas to war._ “I’m gay.”              

              There was a heavy silence so big that you could hear the wind whisper. Shiro blinked, once, twice, three times before staring at Keith dumbfounded. _Had he heard that right?_ One look at Keith’s tight face was enough to tell Shiro that he had, in fact, heard correctly.

              “Wait, so, you’re not going overseas yet?”

              Keith gawked at his dad in disbelief. “What? No, wait, where did you even get that idea from?”

              “You were so nervous! I thought you were going to tell me that my baby was being shipped out!” Shiro argued pitifully, earning a groan from Keith.

              “I, your only son, come out to your as gay, and you were worried that I was being shipped out? That’s it?” Keith asked in disbelief, running a tired hand over his face.

              “Can you blame a guy? I know that when you are finally shipped out, that will be the worst news that I will ever hear.” Shiro admitted quietly, causing Keith to sober up and look at his dad sympathetically. He reached out to give his dad a pat on the back before sighing.

              “Is that really the worst news I could tell you?” Keith licked his lips.

              Shiro snorted. “Of course. Look, Keith, if you’re gay then I am okay with it. Hell, I’m proud of you for coming to tell me, but son you didn’t have to. I’ll love you no matter who you love. I will _always_ love you and one day if you settle down with the love of your life, you can bet that I will love _him_ too. After I’ve properly scared him with my overprotective dad mode.” Shiro grinned cheekily, earning a snort of laughter from Keith. Keith playfully punched his dad, deflating with relief.

              He never figured that his dad could hate him for his sexuality, but he couldn’t help the fear.

              “Thank you dad. That means a lot.” Keith said hoarsly and Shiro beamed.

              “So um, is there a future Mr. Shirogane I should be expecting to meet?” _Twenty is a bit young but if he’s in love…_

              “Oh god no. Dad, no.” Keith laughed and shoved off his father, missing the sigh of relief from Shiro. “No, I am way too young to get married. No. There’s nobody right now. I’ll – I’ll tell you if I meet someone, even if it’s not long-term.”

              “Oh thank god. I’m too young to be a grandpa.”

              “Dad. Stop.” Keith snickered. Shiro shared a brief smile with his son. “But um, that grandpa thing might be a bit of a problem.”

              “Keith, you know that there are other ways to start a family without a man and a woman having sex.” Shiro deadpanned with one eyebrow raised, while Keith’s entire face went scarlet. “You realize how our family started right?”

              “Dad! Of course I do! How did you get so embarrassing?” Keith moaned before burying his face into his arms. Shiro chuckled and gently pat his son on the back, while Keith groaned again.

              “I’ve always been this embarrassing son. I think you’re just old enough to realize it finally.” Shiro said.

              “Dad, you’re so weird.” Keith finally sighed and shook his head when he moved his face from the spot it was hiding in his arms. He looked over at his dad with a soft smile, ignoring the goofy look that the old man sent his way and laughed. “Um, no, I think there’s something else. About me that is. Besides being gay.”

              Shiro quickly sobered up.

              “Ah um, well, did you ever…not want to have… _sex?”_ Keith asked quickly, voice barely above a whisper, so Shiro had to strain to figure out what his son was asking him. It took him a moment to process what Keith had said before he blinked owlishly.

              “Did I ever, what?”

              Keith groaned. “Um, well, you see the thing is, sex doesn’t sound appealing to me?” Keith tried to explain as he rubbed the back of his neck. Shiro continued to blink. “Sex never really interested me. Not in high school, not now, not ever. It’s kinda gross whenever I think about it, and I just wonder if that ever happened to you? Like is this just something I’m going through? Because all any of my friends talk about is their sex life and that’s gross enough, but the act of _sex_ just ugh. I have no desires for it ever. Not even when Lance tries to go into detail during his skype calls.”

              “Um,” Shiro blinked again. “No? I’m sorry Keith. I was pretty…into that whole shebang-a-bang when I was your age. They called me a stallion back at the Garrison –”

              “Okay dad, that’s all I needed to know. Nope. We’re done here.” Keith shot to his feet quickly and clamped his hands over his ears, while Shiro knowingly smirked at Keith.

              “Ace.”

              Now it was Keith’s turn to blink in confusion. “Excuse me?”

              “Ace. Look it up. I think this term applies to you.” Shiro said again with a nod and Keith swallowed thickly.

              “Wait, you mean this is not…fake? This is something that people experience?” Keith slowly sat down and Shiro nodded gently.

              “I know I’m just an old man, but I like to keep up with the terms and you wouldn’t believe how much the gender and sexuality spectrum has grown since I was your age. It’s huge!” Shiro gushed excitedly, causing Keith to laugh hesitantly. “Point is, there’s this term that people use which is ace. You should look it up. I hear it has a lot to do with lack of sexual desires, disgust towards sexual desires and more. I think you’d be surprised at how many other people feel about sex as you do.”

              “But…how come I haven’t heard of it?” Keith asked dumbly.

              “It’s a newer term. I mean look at how long it took for us to accept the term _homosexuals_. I imagine many of these other genders and sexualities will take some time before society uses them constantly.” Shiro shrugged and gave Keith’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. He was starting to look less and less stressed about the whole ordeal as his face morphed into a look of awe.

              “But I’m gay?” Keith stated quietly.

              “Son, you can love boys and have no sex drive at all. It’s a thing. Just like you can love women and have no sex drive too, and that would be a thing.” Shiro said. “Even if we forget about any of these terms and labels and we just focus on you, as long as you’re happy then that’s all that matters. I don’t care if you love a man and marry one. I don’t care if you never have sex in your entire life. All I care is that you are happy, and that whomever you end up with is happy with who _you_ are. Don’t ever make them change you, Keith. Don’t ever feel pressured into having sex or loving someone, because when you do meet the right person, they’ll will love you for the star that you are.”

              Shiro could see the beginnings of tears welling up in Keith’s eyes before the twenty-year-old had launched himself into Shiro’s arms. Shiro laughed loudly and held his son close, unable to speak in fear that he too might start crying. It had taken Keith a lot of courage to come to his father to speak about his feelings and Shiro couldn’t be more proud of this young man in his arms.

              “How about you and I look more into this, and you can tell me about any cuties that have caught your eye.” Shiro winked when he pulled back and wiped at Keith’s tears.

              “Dad, why are you like this?”

              “Because I’m awesome?”


End file.
